Brand has tripled China sales over the last five years, appealing to young, luxury buyers

Cadillac sold more vehicles in China than in the U.S. last year for the first time, an unexpected milestone that highlights the storied brand’s severe struggles at home as much as it represents momentum abroad.

General Motors Co.’s luxury brand’s sales surged 51% last year to 175,489 vehicles in China, where it began selling cars in earnest only in the last decade. Cadillac’s tally in the U.S.—where it dominated automotive luxury for nearly a century after its 1902 founding—sank 8% to 156,440.